Alaska's Sherpa Crews Tackle Desert Duties - DefendAmerica News Article

I told a friend of mine who usually has more military knowledge than myself that I'd heard that the National Guard from Alaska was flying something called a Sherpa in Iraq, and he broke out laughing. 'Naw,' he said. 'No way. That's not a plane, that's a toy...'

Some toy. In the hands of the bush pilots in the Alaskan National Guard on Iraq rotation, it's moving a lot of cargo and troops. U.S. Army Master Sgt. Lek Mateo reports.

And what's a Sherpa? Well, a modified Shorts regional airliner, apparently. See here, here, and here for some basics.